What a wonderful world...: HFC Youth/Leadership Camp

It all happened on Thursday evening, when Daniel message me and asking whether do I still want to go for the camp or not, since there's still place. I was contemplating on whether should I go or not, coz I didn't have the mood to do anything, and non of the people I'm actually close with are going. Until much later in the evening, around 6plus, a client emailed me and said they will be taking 2 of my candidates, which means I have already cross my target, which also means I can take leave. So Spoke to Vivian, she asked me to try asking for halfday leave, and Boss agreed. So yea..that's how this 'old dude' ended up in a Youth/LEADERSHIP camp. (I have to stress on the LEADERSHIP coz ppl think I'm too old for a youth!! HELLO!! Youth are people age between 13 - 35 OKAY!!.. F.Y.I)

So on Friday, 16th, went to church at around 5pm. Thank goodness some familiar faces like Shaun, Greg, Ann Mich, Chris Abi, Pam, Angel, Christine, Victor and Vivi were there. Hang around there a while, chit chatting, gossiping, laughing until the bus came at 5.30pm. Suppose to leave at that time...BUT 'SOMEONE' *hintjuanhint* decided to go do last minute work from her sister *hintchristinehint*, ended up leaving at about 6 plus. KNOWING it's a Friday, it took us 2 and a half hours to get to Dominic Villa, Genting (It's pronounce as GENTING my good neighbouring country at the south, not JENTING/GENT-TING). Actually, we also stop at Mobil coz some of them had to go wiwi(I din wanna use wee wee coz it's my name...BOOMS)

When we reach Genting, which I think it was almost 9, the facilitators already marah-marah, coz we have already missed 1 session, and might also miss another. So we quickly went to our dorms, put our stuff, had a fast dinner, then the session begin. Alvin had to squeeze both sessions as we don't have much time. It was about God's Unconditional, Sacrificial, Pure Love for us, also known as AGAPE and also about the Eucharist. It ended at about 12, then we had a quick tea break and headed back to our dorm for the night.

Session 1 and 2

Guy's dorm no 2. My dorm.

Day 2, Saturday, 17/10

Day 2 started of with Praise & worship, which I must say the facilitator's praise and worship session is really really damn good. I always feel wonderful after each praise and worship session. Even when the introduction is being played, the hair on my hand will automatically stand...really really good...props goes to Brendan and Alvin. ANYWAY...Eddy spoke about being the Salt of the Earth & the Light of the World. He also shared about the life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frasatti, who is also known as the Saint for the Youth. Click on the link to know more about him. Eddy also shared his experience at the World Youth Day in Sydney. He was one of the lucky ones to be on the ship with the pope. So Eddy being Eddy decided to just walk about on the boat, went to this particular section where he was surrounded by all the bishops and cardinals, smiled, continue walking, MIND YOU the pope was there, and there were tight security everywhere AND NO ONE NOTICED HIM!!. He walked towards the end of the room, looked up, and there he was.. Pope Benedict XVI. So he waved and shouted 'Papal! Papal!' like a crazy man...he did this for quite a while, until he noticed that he forgotten his wife, Priscilla. So he went back to where the rest of the Malaysian contingent were, dragged Pris and another person out, and went back there...AGAIN WITHOUT BEING NOTICED BY THE SECURITY!!...AND AGAIN!! 'Papal!Papal!' waving and shouting like a mad person. So basically he brought the entire camp to laughter with his gesture and actions.

Us doing the 'Papal!Papal!' wave...

The rest of the session was given by Tony about leadership, characteristic of a Christian leader, challenges faced by youth these days and suggestions to overcome it, team effectiveness. In between, Brendan slot in some games to keep us awake. So the 1st game he played was 'Simon Says' which has only 3 actions, pray, go to confession and fast.

Final 5...doing go for confession

Final 2. Doesn't this picture looks familiar to you..like in a wedding or sth? I think Brendan practising to be a priest and these 2 buggers are his guinea pig...

And another game he played was SO-CALLED la 'Guessing the character'. So Brendan ask la, 'Are there any leader's out there? People who are already leaders?'. So they ask me to go la, since I was a choir leader, so I went la. Brought outside to be with Alvin along with Daniel, Tasha, and 3 other youth to discuss on what 'occupation' you want. I got the cowboy, Daniel got mat rempit, Tasha got ballerina, Casie got model, Annie got magician, and the dude got DJ. I wanted to suggest some funny ones like Stripper, Pole Dancer, Sheena the warrior princess, etc etc. LUCKY THING I DIN SUGGEST. Damn humiliating. Anyway, long story short, it was actually 'what you are doing while you're taking a dunk in the toilet'. So yea, that's how I got this shot...

and this...

to make this happen...

Just look at how they are laughing..look at Shaun...look at Ann!!...Oh well!! Somehow or rather, When I say on that chair, and when I hear them laughing even before we started acting, I remembered Greg telling me something bout this. So told Daniel what is it, both of us decided to just make a fool of ourselves and just make ppl laugh. He lagi terer...got sound effect la...siap with 'It's coming out...OH SHIT!!!' la...so yea, Daniel won the toilet roll..kinda sad I din win though.. Basically, the game is all about leaders willing to do things that leaders usually don't do in order to get the message across/work done/motivating the teams/ etc etc...

ANYWAY, Fr George came and we had mass at 6.00pm.

What happened after dinner that day was the best ever. We had inner healing session, where we open our mind and heart for God to come into us and take all our surpressed/hurtful emotions/feelings and we're being washed away from those emotions/feelings and we feel refreshed and renewed(thx manda for the words). I've been wanting to experience this since I was young as I only had 1 experience, and that also nothing happened coz I was like 8/9 years old?(I remember Lilian, my cousin, was behind me saying that don worry, i wont let u fall, holding me etc etc...*my mind thinking*...but I want to fall). So, Alvin and Sherman started explaining to us what's gonna happened, what will we feel etc etc. Then we started off with a very good and powerful Praise & Worship session which bring tears to many. Then the facilitators put up a sket for us, which is very very very very touching and meaningful, which brings MORE TEARS TO MANY, me included. Thank goodness for tissues nearby, just a stretch away... Then we all stood up and continued with more powerful Praise & worship songs, and the facilitators started to pray over each and everyone of us.

I was actually having mix emotions. I cried, yet I was happy praising God. My eyes was close throughout the whole session, so I really couldn't see what was happening. Brendan sang songs like Renew me O Lord, Holy Spirit rain down, and this particular song which he and a few of them wrote while he was in UK that has the lyric 'Let Go and Let Me In'. So I waited...and waited...and waited...It was like waiting for someone to come out of the toilet and you DESPERATELY NEED TO 'GO'..that kinda feeling...then Pris came and whisper to me 'Freddie, can we move towards the back, there's no space here already'. I open my eyes, and I see everyone around me was already resting in the spirit. Shaun and Rudy was the only 2 ppl standing in front of me. So I was brought behind, prayed over, then I feel this sudden rush going through my body, feeling both hot and cold at the same time. My legs began to feel weak, I was swaying back and forth, the Pris said this to me 'Don't hold back. Just let go'..AND down I went...I rested in the spirit...It was a great feeling. You will still be conscious of your surrounding, it's just that your whole body feels numb, and you wont feel anything. After a few minutes, I woke up, and I continued to pray. Then Eddy said whoever wants to pray for your parents, please stand up. So I stood up again. Sherman came towards me and asked me what and who I wanted to pray for. Then I started crying and I told him that my dad pass away 2 years ago, my mom is alone, I quarreled with her 2 weeks ago, yada yada yada, and he gave me a hug which causes me to cry even more...Then he prayed over me, and down I went again...

After the inner healing session, it felt....great, peaceful, light...It felt really good. Had a quick tea break before we were so called SUPPOSED to go to sleep la, ended up talking to Brendan about his calling, about his past experience, life of saints, how crazy the life of saints are, how saints are crazy people(in a good way) when they're alive, disturbing Sherman on how he looked like Fr Will-I-Am. Then we proceeded to the session hall coz the owner were complaining we were too loud. Continued out chit chat session there. Alvin came and started talking about ghost stories, black masses, possession and exorcism. Then he told a story which happened at Dominic Villa itself 2 years ago, which has something to do with the wall near the toilet, WHICH I WAS ACTUALLY SITTING IN FRONT OF!!

See the blue chairs stacked up behind Vivian and Pam, that area. Long story short, there once stood a black figure with red eyes and the figure was having a spiritual warfare with Andre(another facilitator from Penang, but not with us). So we ended up talking til about 2am, then went to sleep.

Day 3, Sunday, 18/10

The day started with Eddy explaining what happened last night, and what will be happening later, where he prepares us to encounter the Holy Spirit. He also shared with us the gift of the Holy Spirit and say that some of us might be receiving it later. So it began...again...We started off with singing Let the Fire Fall, and Ann LITERALLY FALL!! WAH!! so GENG meh...she landed on Vivian's leg, which Vivian cant stop complaining all the way until we reach Kajang. ANN MICHELE, YOU OWE VIVIAN AN APOLOGY!!haha, Anyway, same process, but this time, I was prayed over 1st..hehe..no nd to wait so long. And again, i rested in the spirit.

That's shaun on the left, greg in the middle and me. If you see properly, Ann is behind Greg and Vivian rubbing her thigh.

Eddy praying over us.

Then after we got up, Eddy encourage us to speak in tongues. So the whole room was filled with words like Alleluia, Come Lord Jesus, etc etc. I was speaking Alleluia at first, then somehow or rather it became something else. So I tried again, and it is still something else. My mind was saying Alleluia, but my mouth was uttering something else. So I told Eddy during our group sharing session, and he said that I was actually speaking in tongues. Not many received that gift that day. Greg and Casie too spoke in tongues.

Group Sharing session.

After the group sharing session, a few of us went up and gave testimony about what happened to us during the inner healing and the encouter with the Holy Spirit. Juan shared that Jesus actually spoke to her saying 'I have not left you, I did not leave you, and I will never ever leave you'. I saw a vision of my dad smiling, some saw light shining. It's really a nice feeling that words can actually describe it.

All in all, I'm glad that I went for the camp. It's one of the best camps I've ever been to. If I had the opportunity to turn time, I would go back to what happened on Saturday. But like Sherman and Alvin told me, best to look forward and serve and evangelize. Continue to build your relationship with God. So, shall just Look Forward to a better relationship with God.